Makes me wonder if a party of truly good characters could convince a unicorn to shed it's horn, like a stag it's antlers. Would be a great solution to solve the dilemma of guilt
This is everything, my party for Curse of Strahd has an Artificer and part of his mechanic is that he is the one who harvests "interesting" parts of creatures and refines weapons and armor. This video came out at the perfect time!
would LOVE to see more pdfs, super helpful (even though im converting everything into a new system) amazing information, charisma, and... everything!!!
I love some pdf, im doing, a grim hollow campaign, and more loot = better. And Ben I love your Video style, and you are a awesome host, and I take my hat off, to you and the team behind. All love from Denmark 🇩🇰
Takes a deft touch to create magic items for a dark fantasy campaign, that feel wondrous but don’t elevate the game into a higher genre of fantasy. 😄 Appreciate the feedback!
Love the pdf available. Keep it up! I always have trouble thinking about what is harvestable from humanoid (or humanoid looking) creatures. Good to remember they’re just like every other animal with hearts, bones, and muscle 🩸🦴
Another good video with a great subject. This is one that every GM has to deal with at some point in their game and you give some good ideas here. Well thought out crafting ideas are always of use, thanks again.
In my last pathfinder campaign, I let my alchemist use either medicine or a recall check if his choice to salvage alchemical ingredients from monsters. Just used the cr as the good value for the ingredients, doubled on a crit success.
Honestly, I could see an entire campaign run about monster hunters (and other classes) who's main goal is to hunt down as many different types of monsters as they can in order to recover unique salvage and then make and sell what they create from that. Either as a business or for the sake of pride and accomplishment.
Awesome idea for a simple campaign! If you haven't already, check out our guide for GM's to create monster hunting quests. Running these quests together would be a great starting point for the campaign you're describing. Could even be run West Marches style. Link: th-cam.com/video/vdA5bZEf6cA/w-d-xo.html
Great question! Off the top of my head a few ideas include sending them on a quest specifically for monster salvage. An allied witch is making a brew and needs specific ingredients from monsters the party must first slay. A fletcher wants to make poison arrows and asks the party to harvest the venom from a giant serpent. As reward the fletcher shares the crafted arrows with the party, and informs them they can harvest useful salvage from other monsters, too! Perhaps the proof the party need to claim a monster bounty IS the salvageable item? Or maybe the party have a mentor who is an artificer or retired monster hunter, who trains anybody interested in how to harvest and craft items from monster salvage. You can of course explain the idea to your players above the table, out of character, and see if it's something they're interested in. Then play a tutorial-style quest using something similar to one of the above ideas. They might not catch on if you're ONLY hinting it in game.
Maybe a horn or tooth taken from a dragon could produce a musical Horn or Ocarina that can cast Dragon's Breath or the Fear spell a number of times equal to half the dragon's proficiency bonus and you need to spend gold and cast those spells on it everyday for 3 days
I love your videos and dark dark worlds but... it's also feel to me a bit of a taboo to treat intelligent creatures around you as materials. In my experience pc's that carve every creature and animal around theme is a grizzly site that i [personally] don't love. how woud you recommend me to bring salvage to my game then?
That’s a fair question. As mentioned in the video, intelligent humanoid creatures that carry weapons or equipment may simply have that as their “salvage” loot. The bugbears carry morningstars and leather armor that can be salvaged. A mage may carry potions, scrolls, or magic items. A dwarven knight’s armor is adamantine. Indeed a humanoid hunter may carry the salvage from other monsters as their salvageable loot. Certainly not every creature needs to have salvageable body parts, and in fact in the Monster Grimoire many intelligent creatures don’t. But if even harvesting remains in general isn’t your jam, making this video did give me an idea for extrapolating this crafting system to include other starting ingredients. Could a lesser magic item like an amulet be crafted into a more powerful staff? Video on that likely incoming!
You're just going to make your players even more overpowered. If you allow players to craft gear then they have nothing to spend money on. This needs careful balance.
Gold is already a mediocre reward anyway. You don’t need something to spend money on, or if you do, you can introduce new items like a knife specifically for cutting scales or a special flask capable of stably and safely containing venom. They can spend money on cool stuff.
Indeed, if it fits better for your campaign the act and process of crafting the spear could corrupt the magic of the horn. Instead of radiant it inflicts necrotic damage on all creature types except undead and fiends, and the spells could be swapped for Animate Dead, Danse Macabre, or even Life Transference. Could be interesting for an evil campaign, like we discussed in this video: th-cam.com/video/vw9vwYPEDcM/w-d-xo.htmlsi
Makes me wonder if a party of truly good characters could convince a unicorn to shed it's horn, like a stag it's antlers. Would be a great solution to solve the dilemma of guilt
Possibly so! Great idea.
This is everything, my party for Curse of Strahd has an Artificer and part of his mechanic is that he is the one who harvests "interesting" parts of creatures and refines weapons and armor. This video came out at the perfect time!
That sounds awesome! Glad we could help. 🙂
would LOVE to see more pdfs, super helpful (even though im converting everything into a new system) amazing information, charisma, and... everything!!!
Thanks! 🙂 Noted! We have some more ideas for 'mini-supplement' PDFs so there's something to anticipate.
One of my fav 3rd party books for dnd 5e is called "witch + craft" and adds some really nice crafting rules, accompanied by some really cute art!
I love some pdf, im doing, a grim hollow campaign, and more loot = better.
And Ben I love your Video style, and you are a awesome host, and I take my hat off, to you and the team behind.
All love from Denmark 🇩🇰
Definitely keen on more short PDFs. Love how you’ve made the properties interesting without being overpowered.
Takes a deft touch to create magic items for a dark fantasy campaign, that feel wondrous but don’t elevate the game into a higher genre of fantasy. 😄
Appreciate the feedback!
Yes, PDFs plz and thank you :)
Love the pdf available. Keep it up! I always have trouble thinking about what is harvestable from humanoid (or humanoid looking) creatures. Good to remember they’re just like every other animal with hearts, bones, and muscle 🩸🦴
The Hamund's Harvesting Handbooks from the DM Guild are also cool options . And yes would like more monsters looting pdf please .
Another good video with a great subject. This is one that every GM has to deal with at some point in their game and you give some good ideas here. Well thought out crafting ideas are always of use, thanks again.
running a monster hunter campaign and this really helpful, hope to see more pdfs in the future
I do like to have pdfs. And looting is fun part of playing.
Incredibly helpful! Thanks, Ben!
In my last pathfinder campaign, I let my alchemist use either medicine or a recall check if his choice to salvage alchemical ingredients from monsters. Just used the cr as the good value for the ingredients, doubled on a crit success.
yes please PDF
Great video as always Ben!
yes i love this sort of things in dnd
Honestly, I could see an entire campaign run about monster hunters (and other classes) who's main goal is to hunt down as many different types of monsters as they can in order to recover unique salvage and then make and sell what they create from that. Either as a business or for the sake of pride and accomplishment.
Awesome idea for a simple campaign! If you haven't already, check out our guide for GM's to create monster hunting quests. Running these quests together would be a great starting point for the campaign you're describing. Could even be run West Marches style.
Link: th-cam.com/video/vdA5bZEf6cA/w-d-xo.html
How would you introduce the idea of salvaging animals to your players if they (nor you) have ever done this before?
Great question! Off the top of my head a few ideas include sending them on a quest specifically for monster salvage. An allied witch is making a brew and needs specific ingredients from monsters the party must first slay. A fletcher wants to make poison arrows and asks the party to harvest the venom from a giant serpent. As reward the fletcher shares the crafted arrows with the party, and informs them they can harvest useful salvage from other monsters, too!
Perhaps the proof the party need to claim a monster bounty IS the salvageable item? Or maybe the party have a mentor who is an artificer or retired monster hunter, who trains anybody interested in how to harvest and craft items from monster salvage.
You can of course explain the idea to your players above the table, out of character, and see if it's something they're interested in. Then play a tutorial-style quest using something similar to one of the above ideas. They might not catch on if you're ONLY hinting it in game.
Wait, what book and what page is "ooze pie" on? cant seem to find it.
We made it for this video. 😄 Hit the PDF link in the description to grab it for free with the other salvage examples.
Maybe a horn or tooth taken from a dragon could produce a musical Horn or Ocarina that can cast Dragon's Breath or the Fear spell a number of times equal to half the dragon's proficiency bonus and you need to spend gold and cast those spells on it everyday for 3 days
This is y I say you do what wotc wanted but a whole hell of a lot better
I love your videos and dark dark worlds but... it's also feel to me a bit of a taboo to treat intelligent creatures around you as materials. In my experience pc's that carve every creature and animal around theme is a grizzly site that i [personally] don't love. how woud you recommend me to bring salvage to my game then?
That’s a fair question. As mentioned in the video, intelligent humanoid creatures that carry weapons or equipment may simply have that as their “salvage” loot. The bugbears carry morningstars and leather armor that can be salvaged. A mage may carry potions, scrolls, or magic items. A dwarven knight’s armor is adamantine. Indeed a humanoid hunter may carry the salvage from other monsters as their salvageable loot.
Certainly not every creature needs to have salvageable body parts, and in fact in the Monster Grimoire many intelligent creatures don’t.
But if even harvesting remains in general isn’t your jam, making this video did give me an idea for extrapolating this crafting system to include other starting ingredients. Could a lesser magic item like an amulet be crafted into a more powerful staff? Video on that likely incoming!
If you have a lich's head, just remember. Bob the Skull. Give your pesky mage attitude
You're just going to make your players even more overpowered. If you allow players to craft gear then they have nothing to spend money on. This needs careful balance.
Gold is already a mediocre reward anyway. You don’t need something to spend money on, or if you do, you can introduce new items like a knife specifically for cutting scales or a special flask capable of stably and safely containing venom. They can spend money on cool stuff.
Craft Cadavers
It doesn't make sense for a weapon of good to come from killing a good creature.
Indeed, if it fits better for your campaign the act and process of crafting the spear could corrupt the magic of the horn. Instead of radiant it inflicts necrotic damage on all creature types except undead and fiends, and the spells could be swapped for Animate Dead, Danse Macabre, or even Life Transference.
Could be interesting for an evil campaign, like we discussed in this video: th-cam.com/video/vw9vwYPEDcM/w-d-xo.htmlsi
D